a) Vote by special ballot from within your riding.
With this option, you can vote:

in person at your local Elections Canada office throughout most of the election period

by mailing your special ballot to your local Elections Canada office

To vote by special ballot, apply before 6:00 p.m. (local time) on the Tuesday before election day.

If we accept your application and proof of identity and address, we will mail you a special ballot voting kit that explains how to vote. If you apply in person at your local Elections Canada office, we will hand you the kit – you can vote right away, or vote later by mail or by returning in person to your local Elections Canada office.

Your completed ballot must be received at your local Elections Canada office before the polls close on election day in your riding. By law, we cannot accept late application forms and we cannot count late ballots.

Once you have registered to vote by special ballot, you cannot vote another way.

b) Vote by special ballot from outside your riding.
This option applies to people whose residence is in Canada but who are travelling outside their riding, in Canada or abroad (e.g., snowbirds, students living away from home to attend university).

With this option, you can vote by mail from anywhere in Canada or the world. To vote by special ballot from outside your riding:

Apply ASAP after an election is called. Allow enough time for a special ballot voting kit to reach you and for your ballot to travel back to Ottawa.

We must receive your application and documents proving your identity and address by the Tuesday before election day:

in person at any Elections Canada office before 6:00 p.m. (local time), or

by fax or by mail sent to Elections Canada in Ottawa, before 6:00 p.m. (Eastern Time)

Once we process and accept your application, we mail you a special ballot voting kit (or hand it to you, if you apply in person at an Elections Canada office). Your kit explains how to vote.

Your completed ballot must be received at Elections Canada in Ottawa before 6:00 p.m. (Eastern Time) on election day. By law, we cannot accept late application forms and we cannot count late ballots.

Once you have registered to vote by special ballot, you cannot vote another way.

Here are some of the ways you can prove your identity and address at the polls:

To prove your identity (name), you can show a piece of ID with your name on it, like a fishing license, library card, social insurance card (SIN card), birth certificate or Veterans Affairs Canada Health Identification Card.

To prove your address, you can show an official letter called a "Letter of Confirmation of Residence." If you have gone to a shelter for food or lodging, you can ask the shelter administrator for this letter.

If you don't have documents to prove your identity and address, you can swear a written oath of residence, attested to by another elector. That person has to be an eligible elector in the same polling division as you, and he or she must show authorized documents that prove his or her identity and address.

I am a post-secondary student. In the next federal general election, will I be able to vote on campus?

Some students will be able to vote on campus. You may have one or more of these options:

Advance and election day polling places on some campuses

Some campuses have advance and/or election day polling places. Students living in residence can vote at a polling place on campus if they consider their campus residence to be their home, they have ID proving their address on campus and they are assigned to vote at that polling place.

Soon after the election is called, Elections Canada lets people know where to vote. You can find the addresses and hours for your polling place on our website and on your voter information card, a personalized card we send to each registered voter to tell them when and where to vote.

Elections Canada offices on some campuses

For the first time, Elections Canada will open additional service points (offices) on select campuses. These offices will be open for four days. Students can visit the offices to get information, register and vote on site. These offices will be open to all voters, no matter where in Canada they may live. Learn more about plans to open Elections Canada offices on select campuses.

To prove your identity (name), you can show a piece of ID with your name on it, like a health card, social insurance card (SIN card), birth certificate, Veterans Affairs Canada Health Identification Card, or hospital bracelet.

For residents of long-term care facilities, it is acceptable to show photocopies of your proof of identity and address documents.

To prove your address, one option is to show an "Attestation of Residence." This is an official letter from a long-term care facility that says this person lives there. You can request this letter from the facility administrator.

If you don't have documents to prove your identity and address, you can you can swear a written oath of residence, attested to by another elector. That person has to be an eligible elector in the same polling division as you, and he or she must show authorized documents that prove his or her identity and address.

Time off work to vote

Am I allowed time off work to vote?

By law, eligible electors must have three consecutive hours to cast their vote on election day. If your hours of work do not allow for three consecutive hours to vote, your employer must give you time off.

For example, if you live in a riding where voting hours are 9:30 a.m. to 9:30 p.m. and you usually work from 11:00 a.m. to 7:00 p.m., your hours of work will not allow three consecutive hours for voting. To give you three consecutive hours to vote, your employer could allow you to arrive late (at 12:30 p.m.), let you leave early (at 6:30 p.m.), or give you three hours off at some point during the work day.

Your employer has the right to decide when the time off will be given.

Are all employers required to give time off work to vote?

Yes, the law applies to all employers. However, for employers in the transportation industry, the obligation to provide three consecutive hours off to vote does not apply if these four conditions are met:

the employer is a company that transports goods or passengers by land, air or water

the employee is employed outside his or her polling division

the employee is employed in the operation of a means of transportation, and

the time off cannot be allowed without interfering with the transportation service

Is there a penalty for employers who do not give employees time off to vote?

It is also an offence for an employer to reduce an employee's pay where the employee has been provided time off to vote in accordance with the Act. The maximum penalty for violating these prohibitions is a fine of up to $2,000, three months imprisonment, or both.

It is also an offence for an employer to use intimidation, undue influence, or any other means to interfere with the granting of time off to vote under the Canada Elections Act. The maximum penalty for violating this provision is a fine of up to $50,000, five years imprisonment, or both.

My income tax form asked if I want to share some of my information with Elections Canada, and I answered "no." Do I still have the right to vote?

On federal income tax forms, there is the question "As a Canadian citizen, do you authorize the Canada Revenue Agency to give your name, address, date of birth, and citizenship to Elections Canada to update the National Register of Electors?". If you answered "no" to this question but you are eligible to vote, you still have the right to vote.

Saying "no" to this question on your income tax form does not remove your name from the National Register of Electors if it was already listed there.

I'm serving a prison sentence. Can I vote?

Yes.

Canadians who will be 18 years of age or older on polling day and who are in a correctional institution or a federal penitentiary in Canada may vote by special ballot. Once an election is called, a staff member in each institution is appointed as a liaison officer and helps prisoners register and vote. The liaison officer can answer your questions about voting and help you register.

What can I expect when I go to my polling site to vote?

Why voting matters

Why should I vote?

Your vote is the way you choose someone to represent you in Canada's Parliament. By expressing your choice, you are exercising a democratic right that is key to the democratic process of government that generations of Canadians have fought to build. For more information, see A History of the Vote in Canada.

During a general election, you will vote by special ballot at a polling station set up in your unit. During a by-election, Elections Canada will mail a special ballot voting kit to you at your unit's postal address.

I am living with a member of the Canadian Forces. I am away from home. How do I vote?

By law, the only people who may vote at polling stations established for Canadian Forces units are members of the Canadian Forces and civilians employed outside Canada by the Canadian Forces as teachers or administrative support staff at a Canadian Forces school.

What is a Statement of Ordinary Residence, used by Canadian Forces electors?

The Statement of Ordinary Residence (SOR) is a form that designates your address for voting purposes. The address you provide on this form determines the riding in which your vote will be counted, regardless of where you may be stationed in Canada or around the world.

You can vote only for a candidate running in the riding stated in your SOR.

An SOR is usually completed upon enrolment in the Canadian Forces, or upon being placed on active service. You must complete the SOR suited to your category of Canadian Forces elector:

DND 406 – for members of the Regular Forces and civilians employed outside Canada by the Canadian Forces as teachers in or administrative support staff for a Canadian Forces school

DND 407 – for members of the Reserve Forces

If you have not yet completed this form, you can complete your Statement of Ordinary Residence on-line. Print your completed form and present it to your unit's orderly room as soon as possible. If you can't use the on-line form, get a copy of the Statement of Ordinary Residence form from your unit's orderly room.

I am a Canadian Forces elector. Can I vote at a civilian polling station?

If you wish to vote at a civilian polling station rather than at your unit's polling station, you must vote at the polling station established for the address of ordinary residence shown on your Statement of Ordinary Residence (SOR). In addition, you must be residing in that riding on civilian polling day.

I am a Canadian Forces elector. Does my address for voting purposes change whenever I am posted or deployed?

According to the Canada Elections Act, Canadian Forces electors who have completed a Statement of Ordinary Residence (SOR) can only update their address for voting purposes by submitting an amended SOR.

As a Canadian Forces elector, your address for voting purposes is not updated by any other source (e.g., tax return, driver's license, etc.). Consequently, the address in your SOR can remain valid for many years and may not reflect your current posting.